MADISON — Wisconsin officially has its starting quarterback.

Offensive coordinator Phil Longo confirmed Wednesday morning what had become apparent to those watching practice this week — Miami transfer Tyler Van Dyke is atop the depth chart for the Badgers, beating out sophomore Braedyn Locke for the job.

“We kind of see it as a 1A- and 1B-type situation right now, as opposed to a 1 and a 2,” Longo told reporters. “That’s how well Braedyn has has done here in in camp. But as of right now, Tyler Van Dyke is our starter.”

The 6-foot-4, 230-pound Van Dyke joined the program in December after four years with the Hurricanes. A starter for much of the last three years, he was not guaranteed the No. 1 spot with the Badgers. He and Locke shared reps throughout spring practice, though it appeared a strong second half of those 15 practices gave Van Dyke a lead going into the summer. After a slow start to fall camp, Van Dyke became the clear-cut choice over the last five or six practices.

“I think Tyler probably is pretty close mentally (to Locke). He’s where we would like him to be,” Longo said of what led to his choice of Van Dyke. “I think probably the big separator right now (is he has a) bigger arm. He probably wins and drives the ball better in the smaller holes. Both can throw the deep ball. There’s probably a greater range with Tyler. And then he has done an absolute hell of a job running the football and extending plays when he needs to.”

Unlike a year ago when Locke was a redshirt freshman and never had a chance to beat out Tanner Mordecai for the starting gig, the Texas product showed big leaps in his game and seriously pushed Van Dyke.

“The great progress this year is he’s so good mentally that he’s on point with the throws. He’s been even more accurate this year than he was last year. With the help of (Director of Strength and Conditioning) Brady Collins and the staff, he’s doing a lot more things athletically that I did not see him do last spring, just a much better athletic product at this point.

“He’s stronger, he’s more durable, he’s (more) twitchy. I wouldn’t call him explosive — I’m going to hear about that one — but he’s more explosive than he was last year. And so those are all benefits, and then he’s just kind of taking it to another level mentally. You really have a play caller on the field when he’s out there, so he ought to be able to manage the problems and put us in a good position.”

For Van Dyke, this is an opportunity to prove that he closer to the quarterback that was named the ACC Rookie of the Year in 2021 instead of the injury-plagued and uneven quarterback of the last two years.

“There are things that occurred in Miami,” Longo explained about Van Dyke’s performance. “What people don’t know is he played extremely hurt (in 2023). He also was on the third year of a new offense and a new coordinator. I don’t know if that approach that they took the third year was conducive to Tyler. … I don’t want to judge the offensive coordinators that were there (Miami), but I just think we have to be careful and make sure that we try to do the things that feature what he does well. The decision making part of it is good. The big arm is really a bonus for us, and his mobility is a bonus. So the three things you would hope to have in quarterback we have right now.”

Van Dyke and the Badgers open the season August 30th against Western Michigan.